giovedì 12 luglio 2012

Members of a baying mob who lynched a man
accused of breaching Pakistan’s blasphemy laws must be brought to
justice as a matter of urgency, Amnesty International said.
On
Wednesday 4 July, residents in the town of Channigoth in Bahawalpur,
Punjab province accused a homeless man of burning a Quran, an offence
punishable by life imprisonment.
Local police detained the man,
whose identity remains unknown, but before they could investigate the
claim a group numbering more than a thousand gathered outside the
station demanding that police kill the suspect there and then.
When
police attempts to calm the crowd failed, the group attacked and
eventually dragged the man out of the station and beat him to death.
Witnesses said people poured petrol on his dead body and set it alight.
At least five members of the mob and as many police were injured in the clashes.
“We
recognise the extreme challenge faced by police when confronted by over
a thousand people baying for blood,” said Polly Truscott, Amnesty
International’s South Asia Director.
“But police efforts will have
come to nothing if Punjab authorities do not urgently bring the
perpetrators to justice in trials consistent with international
standards.”
“Failure to do so effectively sends the message that
anyone can commit outrageous abuses and attempt to excuse them as
defence of religious sentiments.”
“Pakistan authorities must also
urgently reform blasphemy laws to ensure they cannot be used
maliciously to settle disputes or enable private citizens to take
matters into their own hands.”
The blasphemy laws’ vague
formulation, along with inadequate investigation by authorities and
intimidation by militant religious groups has promoted vigilantism in
Pakistan, especially in the Punjab.
Religious minorities have been
disproportionately accused of blasphemy, but a large proportion of
victims are from the Muslim majority.